The purpose of this site is to advance the debate about Thomas S. Szasz's basic ideas and their practical implications. He...
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The purpose of this site is to advance the debate about Thomas S. Szasz's basic ideas and their practical implications. He suggests the following summary statement as a manifesto...Thomas Szasz's Summary Statement and Manifesto ״Myth of mental illness." Mental illness is a metaphor (metaphorical disease). The word "disease" denotes a demonstrable biological process that affects the bodies of living organisms (plants, animals, and humans). The term "mental illness" refers to the undesirable thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of persons. Classifying thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as diseases is a logical and semantic error, like classifying the whale as a fish. As the whale is not a fish, mental illness is not a disease. Individuals with brain diseases (bad brains) or kidney diseases (bad kidneys) are literally sick. Individuals with mental diseases (bad behaviors), like societies with economic diseases (bad fiscal policies), are metaphorically sick. The classification of (mis)behavior as illness provides an ideological justification for state-sponsored social control as medical treatment. Separation of Psychiatry and the State. If we recognize that "mental illness" is a metaphor for disapproved thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, we are compelled to recognize as well that the primary function of Psychiatry is to control thought, mood, and behavior. Hence, like Church and State, Psychiatry and the State ought to be separated by a "wall." At the same time, the State ought not to interfere with mental health practices between consenting adults. The role of psychiatrists and mental health experts with regard to law, the school system, and other organizations ought to be similar to the role of clergymen in those situations. Presumption of competence. Because being accused of mental illness is similar to being accused of crime, we ought to presume that psychiatric "defendants" are mentally competent, just as we presume that criminal defendants are legally innocent. Individuals charged with criminal, civil, or interpersonal offenses ought never to be treated as incompetent solely on the basis of the opinion of mental health experts. Incompetence ought to be a judicial determination and the "accused" ought to have access to legal representation and a right to trial by jury. Abolition of involuntary mental hospitalization. Involuntary mental hospitalization is imprisonment under the guise of treatment; it is a covert form of social control that subverts the rule of law. No one ought to be deprived of liberty except for a criminal offense, after a trial by jury guided by legal rules of evidence. No one ought to be detained against his will in a building called "hospital," or in any other medical institution, or on the basis of expert opinion. Medicine ought to be clearly distinguished and separated from penology, treatment from punishment, the hospital from the prison. No person ought to be detained involuntarily for a purpose other than punishment or in an institution other than one formally defined as a part of the state's criminal justice system. Abolition of the insanity defense. Insanity is a legal concept involving the courtroom determination that a person is not capable of forming conscious intent and, therefore, cannot be held responsible for an otherwise criminal act. The opinions of experts about the "mental state" of defendants ought to be inadmissible in court, exactly as the opinions of experts about the "religious state" of defendants are inadmissible. No one ought to be excused of lawbreaking or any other offense on the basis of so-called expert opinion rendered by psychiatric or mental health experts. Excusing a person of responsibility for an otherwise criminal act on the basis of inability to form conscious intent is an act of legal mercy masquerading as an act of medical science.

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'Explore the brain from the palm of your hand! Learn about the structure and function of the human brain by interacting with...
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'Explore the brain from the palm of your hand! Learn about the structure and function of the human brain by interacting with rotatable 3D models in real-time like you've never seen it before!Brain Tutor 3D uses rendered head and brain models that were created from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. This allows to look "inside" the head using real-time slicing. For students, medical professional and everyone interested in the brain, the program contains information about major parcellation schemes of the cerebral cortex, including lobes, gyri, sulci and Brodmann areas.With Brain Tutor 3D, you can:- Explore 3D models of the head and brain in real-time- Slice the brain along three axes (sagittal, axial and coronal)- Present text information about lobes, gyri, sulci and Brodmann areas- Learn where brain structures are located both within 3D brain models as well as in slice views- To get started: Select a display mode from the buttons at the bottom. Select a manipulation mode (rotation, translation, slicing) from the buttons at the top of the screen. Move one finger to slice, translate and rotate, use two fingers to pinch-zoom.'This is a free app

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From the web site: "This Tutorial is designed as an introduction for the lay person to spinal cord injury and repair. It...
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From the web site: "This Tutorial is designed as an introduction for the lay person to spinal cord injury and repair. It includes information on what happens to the spinal cord as a result of traumatic injury and some of the latest developments in the search for effective treatments."

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